Hometown Heroes 5k

The Liverpool HS Top 7 Varsity runners went to the Manhattan Invitational this weekend. And left the JV runners behind, with nothing to do. So a few of them decided to run a local 5k.

And wouldn't you know, I brought my camera. But left my memory card in the computer. At home. So I have no pictures to share. I did find this online at ynn.com. They had video of the start of the race. You can see Alex's head in there. He was kind of next to the boy (a teammate) in the red shirt.

The 5k was called the "Hometown Heroes 5k". It benefited families of military personnel. A very good cause. Alex and 2 of his teammates decided to use the race not really to push themselves too hard, but to get in a good workout. I'd love to have seen how they would have done if they were running at top speed. All 3 of them ended up in the Top 10 overall. Alex placed 7th overall and first for his age group. You can check out the results here.

Double Down

Today Alex and 2 of his friends (Sean & Chris) stopped by the station after school to volunteer their services. Here they are in the Green Room after their "briefing".

They were contestants during a run-through for our High School Quiz Show!

They were a big help to the production staff as they did a dry-run with camera shots and graphics. They did a whole show from start to finish. And even had to answer some hard questions!

I think it was good practice for them to have to talk in front of people.

Chris & Sean's mom, Liz, was a great sport and also took part in the run through. And you might be asking, who won? It was a tie.

Busy Birthday

Alex had a very busy birthday today. But we were still able to have a little celebration when we got home tonight. We got mini carrot cake cupcakes for a "cake". Since he already had a big cake this week, this was a perfect alternative.

He seemed to enjoy the mini-celebration...

And what would a blog post or a birthday be without a x-country race?! Today we went to Camillus to compete against West Genesee. (They're really good...)

Sorry for the blurry picture... but this photo was very interesting. They're racing for the finish. There are 4 Liverpool runners, the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th runners for the team. They seem to swap which position they finish each race. And Alex once again finishes 11th for the team. But is soooo very close to that #10 spot... maybe he'll get him next time.

After the x-country meet, we had to go to a "Science Symposium" meeting at the school. Alex is participating in the Earth Science Symposium this year. So we had to meet with the teachers to learn about all the hard work they're going to have to do in the next 5 months. Kelsey did the same thing 2 years ago. You can read about the Symposium here, from the year that Kelsey did it.

October Birthdays

Yesterday we went up to Fulton to celebrate Gary & Alex's birthdays. Laura was very happy to see us!

Kelly took good care of Jenny while we were there.

She watched Jenny very closely to make sure she did what she was supposed to do...

I'm thinking Laura is going to be a teacher when she grows up. She gave a "Presidential" quiz to Uncle Eric.

Paula slaved over a hot stove all day... and even made fresh bread. Which she was slicing here. She made an awesome dinner! We had their last bit of Wilbur.... a big giant ham.

Sheila helped set the beautiful table.

Sheila also made this wonderful (and delicious!) John Deere color-schemed truck cake for Gary, complete with a giant bale of hay in the back!

Alex had a cake too... a yummy ice cream cake!

Laura posed with her daddy.

And Alex tried to figure out how he was going to blow out all those candles! Happy birthday Gary & Alex! Hope you both have great birthdays! (Gary's birthday is tomorrow, Alex's is Wednesday.)

More from McQuaid

Some of Mr. Andrews' pictures from McQuaid...

McQuaid Invitational

Today we spend the afternoon in Rochester, at the McQuaid Invitational. It's a HUGE meet. There are 25 races that run all day and Alex ran the 25th race of the day. There were 316 total runners competing in his race, which was officially called the "Large School Varsity B" race. (aka the JV race)

He's in here somewhere... can you find him? (Hint... just right of center.)

He said after the race that it was very, very crowded and he needs to learn how to "fight" for his position better.

Here he is sprinting to the finish. Can you see that time? It's a little fuzzy... but it says 17:56! I guess he skipped over the 18's altogether! (It was "only" a 3-mile course though, they normally run a 3.1 mile course, so it was a smidge shorter... but not that much.) If you'd like to see the final results they are posted here. He placed 58th and earned a "Top 75" ribbon. He was 5th for the JV team. Varsity was only allowed to run 7 guys today, so 3 of the varsity runners ran the JV race. And Alex's friend Sean must have been annoyed that he beat him last week, so he earned his 11th position back today. (Actually, looking at everybody's time today, Sean's time put him at the 8th position overall, so he's officially on Varsity now... and Alex's time keeps him at 11th position still. Isn't x-country confusing??)

Note: I'm hoping that Mr. Andrews posts his photos at some point this weekend. Eric brought his camera today, but forgot the battery. Which was charging at home. (Oops!) So these are from my snappy camera, with a half-dead battery...

Blog Update

It's been awhile! I'd be surprised if anyone is still reading this thing! Alex has had 2 meets since I last blogged. He had the weekend off since there were no Invitationals. Just 2 "Dual" meets, one last week, one today. He more than met his goal of "Under 20" for a 5k. I think his next goal will be "Under 19"...

Today Alex had a great race. He seems to be knocking off more of his competition each week. And today he did something he's never done before. He beat his best friend Sean.

His initial goal was just to stay with Sean. Little did he realize, he was going to beat him. He beat him by just a few seconds, but I think it was a huge accomplishment for him. And a big boost to his confidence. Sean was the best runner on the team last year. And he's been running #2 for Freshmen this year. Now Alex is #2 for the freshmen. He finished the race today in 19:14. And placed 11th for his team. That's just one spot from making the Varsity Squad and earning a school letter. Not bad for a little freshman! This weekend is the McQuaid Invitational in Rochester. Alex is really looking forward to it. It's a huge all-day event.

I did a little "Fall" decorating this past weekend. And I mean "a little". I didn't go near as crazy as I went last year. But it's still festive. We also got some pumpkins. Which are on display outside. We sprinkled Cayenne pepper on them to hopefully keep the squirrels away. I'll let you know if it worked. It only took a few hours of them being out there before the squirrels started eating one of them, so we had to do something or they'd be gone before Halloween!

I made a fun and very easy casserole last night for dinner. It's called "Mac & Cheese Lasagna"

It was in a Kraft Foods email I got the other day. And it was super easy. If you're looking for a quick and easy dinner that everyone will eat, I highly recommend it! Here's the recipe. Enjoy!